Marchand takes a butt end to the head from Nicklas Backstrom

Midway through the first period of tonight’s game between the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins and Bruins forward Brad Marchand has narrowly avoided a serious injury.

Check out Caps forward Nicklas Backstrom throwing a nasty elbow on Marchand along the glass:

Can’t say I’m too surprised at this Backstrom shot to the head of Marchand. I predicted a rash of elbowing/buttending incidents after that string of meaningless fines by @NHLPlayerSafety At least no penalty was called. ? pic.twitter.com/IJUlXICMUX
— ToughCall ?? (@ToughCallBlog) December 12, 2019

You know what? On second look it looks like Marchand manages to avoid most of the contact.

Check it out:

Nicklas Backstrom butt-ends Brad Marchand in the left ear after the Bruins forward lowers his head before a hit pic.twitter.com/Bp3vk69dgm
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 12, 2019